Array substrate, manufacturing method thereof, and display device

ABSTRACT

An array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device are provided. The array substrate includes a display area and a non-display area in which a peripheral circuit is provided. The peripheral circuit includes a test area, a bonding area, and a cutting area. The test area is provided with a test signal line for providing a test signal. The bonding area is adjacent to the display area, and the bonding area and the test area are electrically connected through signal leads. The cutting area is disposed between the test area and the bonding area. After a cutting process is completed in the cutting area, a cutting opening is formed on each signal lead. A position of the cutting opening of at least one signal lead is different from positions of the cutting openings of other signal leads in height along an extending direction of the signal leads.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Chinese patent application No.2020107294321, filed on Jul. 27, 2020, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of liquid crystaldisplay, and more particularly, to an array substrate, a manufacturingmethod thereof, and a display device.

BACKGROUND

In a manufacturing process of a display panel, a plurality of detectionprocedures need to be performed, and one important detection procedureis to perform a lighting test in a lighting manner before performingchip on film packaging. After the test is completed, it is necessary todisconnect signal leads between a shorting bar and a test signal line bylaser cutting.

However, during laser cutting, metal debris may accumulate at thefracture position of the metal. Once the metal debris is accumulated toomuch, the problem of short circuit between two adjacent signal leadswill occur, thereby causing an abnormal display of the panel andreducing the yield of the display panel.

SUMMARY

According to various embodiments of present disclosure, an arraysubstrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device areprovided.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an array substrateincluding a display area and a non-display area. The non-display area isprovided with a peripheral circuit therein. The peripheral circuitincludes:

a test area provided with a test signal line configured to provide atest signal;

a bonding area adjacent to the display area, the bonding area and thetest area being electrically connected through signal leads; and

a cutting area disposed between the test area and the bonding area,wherein after a cutting process is completed in the cutting area, acutting opening is formed on each of the signal leads, and a position ofthe cutting opening of at least one signal lead is different frompositions of the cutting openings of other signal leads in height alongan extending direction of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, in the cutting area, positions of cutting openings oftwo adjacent signal leads are different in height along the extendingdirection of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, the test area includes an odd data wiring and an evendata wiring. The signal leads include first leads and second leads. Thefirst leads and the second leads are alternately arranged. The odd datawiring and the bonding area are electrically connected through the firstleads, and the even data wiring and the bonding area are electricallyconnected through the second leads. Positions of cutting openings of thefirst leads are the same in height along the extending direction of thesignal leads, and positions of cutting openings of the second leads arethe same in height along the extending direction of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, the positions of the cutting openings of the firstleads are higher than the positions of the cutting openings of thesecond leads along the extending direction of the signal leads.Alternatively, the positions of the cutting openings of the first leadsare lower than the positions of the cutting openings of the second leadsalong the extending direction of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, the first leads and the second leads are disposed indifferent layers.

In an embodiment, cutting depths of the cutting openings of the firstleads are different from cutting depths of the cutting openings of thesecond leads.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the presentdisclosure further provides a method of manufacturing an arraysubstrate, including:

forming a plurality of array areas on a base substrate to obtain abackplane, each of the array areas comprising a display area and anon-display area, the non-display area being provided with a peripheralcircuit therein, the peripheral circuit comprising a test area, abonding area, and a cutting area, the test area being provided with atest signal line therein configured to provide a test signal, thebonding area being adjacent to the display area, the bonding area andthe test area being electrically connected through signal leads, and thecutting area being disposed between the test area and the bonding area;

dividing the backplane into a plurality of the array substrates;

in a test phase, providing a test signal through the test area, the testarea providing the test signal to the display area through the bondingarea to test the display area; and

after the test is completed, cutting the signal leads in the cuttingarea by a laser, and forming a cutting opening on each of the signalleads to disconnect a connection between the test area and the bondingarea, wherein a position of a cut opening of at least one signal lead isdifferent from positions of cut openings of other signal leads in heightalong the extending direction of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, the cutting the signal leads in the cutting area bythe laser, and forming the cutting opening on each of the signal leadsincludes:

cutting the cutting line by a multiple laser cutting process, formingone cutting opening on each of the signal leads, and positions ofcutting openings of two adjacent signal leads are different in heightalong the extending direction of the signal leads.

In an embodiment, the test area includes an odd data wiring and an evendata wiring. The signal leads include first leads and second leads. Thefirst leads and the second leads are alternately arranged. The odd datawiring and the bonding area are electrically connected through the firstleads, and the even data wiring and the bonding area are electricallyconnected through the second leads. The cutting the signal leads in thecutting area by the laser includes:

aligning the laser to a cutting position of the first leads, andperforming a laser cutting on the first leads by the laser,respectively, to disconnect a connection between the odd data wiring andthe bonding area; and

aligning the laser to a cutting position of the second leads, andperforming a laser cutting on the second leads by the laser,respectively, to disconnect a connection between the even data wiringand the bonding area.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the presentdisclosure further provides a display device including the arraysubstrate according to any one of the above embodiments.

In summary, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an arraysubstrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. Thearray substrate includes the display area and the non-display area. Thenon-display area is provided with the peripheral circuit therein. Theperipheral circuit includes a test area, a bonding area, and a cuttingarea. The test area is provided with the test signal line therein forproviding the test signal. The bonding area is adjacent to the displayarea, and the bonding area and the test area are electrically connectedthrough signal leads. The cutting area is disposed between the test areaand the bonding area. After the cutting process is completed in thecutting area, a cutting opening is formed on each of the signal leads,and the position of the cutting opening of at least one signal lead isdifferent from the positions of the cutting openings of other signalleads in height along the extending direction of the signal leads. Inthe present disclosure, since the position of the cutting opening of theat least one signal lead is different from the positions of the cuttingopenings of other signal leads in height along the extending directionof the signal leads, so that the distance between the cutting opening ofthe signal lead and the cutting opening of the adjacent signal lead isincreased. That is, the distance between the metal debris at the cuttingpositions of the two adjacent signal leads is increased, and thepossibility that the two adjacent signal leads are connected togetherthrough metal debris is reduced, thereby avoiding the problem of shortcircuit between the two adjacent signal leads caused by laser cutting,and improving the yield of the display panel.

The details of one or more embodiments of the disclosure are set forthin the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the technical solutions according to the embodiments ofthe present disclosure or in the prior art more clearly, theaccompanying drawings for describing the embodiments or the prior artare introduced briefly in the following. Apparently, the accompanyingdrawings in the following description are only some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and persons of ordinary skill in the art can deriveother drawings from the accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an array substrate according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of metal debris accumulation distribution inan array substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing an array substrateaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, thepresent disclosure will be described more fully below with reference tothe accompanying drawings. Alternative embodiments of the presentdisclosure are given in the accompanying drawings. However, the presentdisclosure may be implemented in many different forms and is not limitedto the embodiments described herein. Rather, the purpose of theseembodiments is to make the disclosure of this application more thoroughand complete.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in thespecification of this application is for the purpose of describingspecific examples only and is not intended to limit the application. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the relevant listed items.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the present disclosure providesan array substrate including a display area and a non-display area. Thenon-display area is provided with a peripheral circuit therein. Theperipheral circuit includes a test area 100, a bonding area 200, and acutting area 300. The test area 100 is provided with a test signal linetherein for providing a test signal. The bonding area 200 is adjacent tothe display area, and the bonding area 200 and the test area 100 areelectrically connected through signal leads. The cutting area 300 isdisposed between the test area 100 and the bonding area 200. After thecutting process is completed in the cutting area 300, a cutting openingis formed on each of the signal leads, and the position of the cuttingopening of at least one signal lead is different from the positions ofthe cutting openings of other signal leads in height along the extendingdirection of the signal leads.

It will be appreciated that after the test is completed, the signalleads need to be cut in the cutting area 300 by the laser, so that theconnection between the test area 100 and the bonding area 200 isdisconnected, and the data signal in the bonding area 200 is preventedfrom flowing backwards to the test area 100 after the test is completed.Referring to FIG. 2 , in the present embodiment, since the position ofthe cutting opening of the at least one signal lead is different fromthe positions of the cutting openings of other signal leads in heightalong the extending direction of the signal leads, a distance betweenthe cutting opening of the signal lead and the cutting opening of theadjacent signal lead is increased, so that the possibility that the twoadjacent signal leads are connected together through metal debris isreduced, thereby avoiding the problem of short circuit between the twoadjacent signal leads caused by laser cutting, and improving the yieldof the display panel.

In an embodiment, in the cutting area 300, the positions of the cuttingopenings of the two adjacent signal leads are different in height alongan extending direction of the signal leads. In the present embodiment,the positions of the cutting openings of any two adjacent signal leadsare different from each other in height along the extending direction ofthe signal leads, so that the possibility that the metal debris at thecutting positions of any two adjacent signal leads are connectedtogether is reduced, the problem of short circuit between the twoadjacent signal leads caused by laser cutting is avoided to the greatestextent, and the yield of the display panel is further improved.

In an embodiment, the test area 100 includes an odd data wiring 110 andan even data wiring 120. The signal leads include first leads L1 andsecond leads L2, and the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 arealternately arranged. The odd data wiring 110 and the bonding area 200are electrically connected through the first leads L1, and the even datawiring 120 and the bonding area 200 are electrically connected throughthe second leads L2. In addition, the positions of the cutting openingsof the plurality of first leads L1 are the same in height along theextending direction of the signal leads, and the positions of thecutting openings of the plurality of second leads L2 are the same inheight along the extending direction of the signal leads.

It will be appreciated that prior to the laser cutting, the laser needsto be aligned to the cutting position, and if heights of the cuttingopenings of the plurality of signal leads are not the same along theextending direction of the signal leads, the laser needs to bere-aligned to another cutting position after each signal lead is cut,which takes a considerable amount of time. In this embodiment, since thepositions of the cutting openings of the plurality of first leads L1 arethe same in height along the extending direction of the signal leads andthe positions of the cutting openings of the plurality of second leadsL2 are the same in height along the extending direction of the signalleads, the process of aligning the laser to the cutting position onlyneeds to be repeated once, thereby shortening the time required forlaser cutting. Moreover, since the first leads L1 and the second leadsL2 are alternately arranged, the cutting positions of each adjacent twosignal leads are different from each other in height along the extendingdirection of the signal leads, so that the possibility that the metaldebris at the cutting positions of any adjacent two signal leads areconnected together is reduced, and the problem of short circuit betweenthe adjacent two signal leads caused by the laser cutting is avoided tothe greatest extent.

In an embodiment, the positions of the cutting openings of the firstleads L1 are higher than the positions of the cutting openings of thesecond leads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads.Alternatively, the positions of the cutting openings of the first leadsL1 are lower than the positions of the cutting openings of the secondleads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads. It will beappreciated that since the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 arealternately arranged, whether the positions of the cutting openings ofthe first leads L1 are higher than the positions of the cutting openingsof the second leads L2 or the positions of the cutting openings of thefirst leads L1 are lower than the positions of the cutting openings ofthe second leads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads,the distance between the cutting openings of two adjacent signal leadscan be increased, thereby avoiding the short circuit of the two adjacentsignal leads at the cutting area 300 due to the accumulation of metaldebris.

In an embodiment, the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 aredisposed in different layers. It will be appreciated that in order toavoid the crossing of the first leads L1 with the even data wiring 120,or the crossing of the second leads L2 with the odd data wiring 110,during the manufacturing of the array substrate, the first leads L1 andthe odd data wiring 110 are disposed in the same layer, the second leadsL2 and the even data wiring 120 are disposed in the same layer, and thefirst leads L1 and the second leads L2 are located on different layers.Since the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 are located ondifferent layers, for example, when the first leads L1 are closer to asurface than the second leads L2, all the first leads L1 can be cut byusing one laser cutting process, the cutting parameters of the laser donot need to be adjusted, and the second leads L2 are not cut, which isadvantageous for reducing the adjustment times of the laser and reducingthe complexity of the laser cutting.

In an embodiment, cutting depths of the cutting positions of the firstleads L1 are different from cutting depths of the cutting positions ofthe second leads L2. It will be appreciated that in order to avoid thecrossing of the first leads L1 with the even data wiring 120, or thecrossing of the second leads L2 with the odd data wiring 110, the firstleads L1 and the second leads L2 are disposed in different layers duringthe manufacturing of the array substrate. Therefore, in order to connector disconnect the first leads L1 and connect or disconnect the secondleads L2, the cutting depths of the cutting positions of the first leadsL1 are different from the cutting depths of the cutting positions of thesecond leads L2.

Referring to FIG. 3 , based on the same inventive concept, an embodimentof the present disclosure further provides a method of manufacturing anarray substrate, including the following steps.

At step S310, a plurality of array areas are formed on a base substrateto obtain a backplane. Each of the array areas includes a display areaand a non-display area. The non-display area is provided with aperipheral circuit therein. The peripheral circuit includes a test area100, a bonding area 200, and a cutting area 300. The test area 100 isprovided with a test signal line therein for providing a test signal.The bonding area 200 is adjacent to the display area, and the bondingarea 200 and the test area 100 are electrically connected through signalleads. The cutting area 300 is disposed between the test area 100 andthe bonding area 200.

At step S320, the backplane is divided into a plurality of the arraysubstrates.

At step S330, in a test phase, a test signal is provided through thetest area 100, and the test area 100 provides the test signal to thedisplay area through the bonding area 200 to test the display area.

At step S340, after the test is completed, the signal leads are cut inthe cutting area 300 by a laser, and a cutting opening is formed on eachof the signal leads to disconnect a connection between the test area 100and the bonding area 200. A cutting position of at least one signal leadis different from positions of the cutting openings of other signalleads in height along the extending direction of the signal leads.

In this embodiment, after the test is completed, the signal leads needto be cut in the cutting area 300 by the laser, so that the connectionbetween the test area 100 and the bonding area 200 is disconnected, andthe data signal in the bonding area 200 is prevented from flowingbackwards to the test area 100 after the test is completed. In thepresent embodiment, since the position of the cutting opening of the atleast one signal lead is different from the positions of the cuttingopenings of other signal leads in height along the extending directionof the signal leads, a distance between the cutting opening of thesignal lead and the cutting opening of the adjacent signal lead isincreased, so that the possibility that the two adjacent signal leadsare connected together through metal debris is reduced, thereby avoidingthe problem of short circuit between the two adjacent signal leadscaused by laser cutting, and improving the yield of the display panel.

In an embodiment, the cutting the signal leads in the cutting area bythe laser, and forming the cutting opening on each of the signal leadsincludes the followings.

The cutting line is cut by a multiple laser cutting process, a cuttingopening is formed on each of the signal leads, and the positions of thecutting openings of the two adjacent signal leads are different inheight along the extending direction of the signal leads. It will beappreciated that the cutting positions of any two adjacent signal leadsare different from each other in height along the extending direction ofthe signal leads, so that the possibility that the metal debris at thecutting positions of any two adjacent signal leads are connectedtogether is reduced, the problem of short circuit between the twoadjacent signal leads caused by laser cutting is avoided to the greatestextent, and the yield of the display panel is further improved.

In an embodiment, the test area 100 includes an odd data wiring 110 andan even data wiring 120. The signal leads include first leads L1 andsecond leads L2, and the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 arealternately arranged. The odd data wiring 110 and the bonding area 200are electrically connected through the first leads L1, and the even datawiring 120 and the bonding area 200 are electrically connected throughthe second leads L2. The cutting the signal leads in the cutting area bythe laser includes:

Aligning the laser to the cutting position of the first leads L1,performing a laser cutting on the plurality of first leads L1 by laser,respectively, to disconnect a connection between the odd data wiring 110and the bonding area 200; and

Aligning the laser to the cutting position of the second leads L2,performing a laser cutting on the plurality of second leads L2 by laser,respectively, to disconnect a connection between the even data wiring120 and the bonding area 200.

It will be appreciated that prior to the laser cutting, the laser needsto be aligned to the cutting position, and if cutting heights of theplurality of signal leads are not the same along the extending directionof the signal leads, the laser needs to be re-aligned to another cuttingposition after each signal lead is cut, which takes a considerableamount of time. In this embodiment, since the positions of the cuttingopenings of the plurality of first leads L1 are the same in height andthe positions of the cutting openings of the plurality of second leadsL2 are the same in height along the extending direction of the signalleads, the process of aligning the laser to the cutting position onlyneeds to be repeated once, thereby shortening the time required forlaser cutting. Moreover, since the first leads L1 and the second leadsL2 are alternately arranged, the cutting positions of each adjacent twosignal leads are different from each other in height along the extendingdirection of the signal leads, so that the possibility that the metaldebris at the cutting positions of any adjacent two signal leads areconnected together is reduced, and the problem of short circuit betweenthe adjacent two signal leads caused by the laser cutting is avoided tothe greatest extent.

In an embodiment, the positions of the cutting openings of the firstleads L1 are higher than the positions of the cutting openings of thesecond leads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads.Alternatively, the positions of the cutting openings of the first leadsL1 are lower than the positions of the cutting openings of the secondleads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads. In thepresent embodiment, since the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 arealternately arranged, whether the positions of the cutting openings ofthe first leads L1 are higher than the positions of the cutting openingsof the second leads L2 or the positions of the cutting openings of thefirst leads L1 are lower than the positions of the cutting openings ofthe second leads L2 along the extending direction of the signal leads,the distance between the cutting openings of two adjacent signal leadscan be increased, thereby avoiding the short circuit of the two adjacentsignal leads at the cutting area 300 due to the accumulation of metaldebris.

In an embodiment, the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 aredisposed in different layers. It will be appreciated that in order toavoid the crossing of the first leads L1 with the even data wiring 120,or the crossing of the second leads L2 with the odd data wiring 110,during the manufacturing of the array substrate, the first leads L1 andthe odd data wiring 110 are disposed in the same layer, the second leadsL2 and the even data wiring 120 are disposed in the same layer, and thefirst leads L1 and the second leads L2 are located on different layers.Since the first leads L1 and the second leads L2 are located ondifferent layers, for example, when the first leads L1 are closer to thesurface than the second leads L2, all the first leads L1 can be cut byusing one laser cutting process, the cutting parameters of the laser donot need to be adjusted, and the second leads L2 are not cut, which isadvantageous for reducing the adjustment times of the laser and reducingthe complexity of the laser cutting.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the presentdisclosure further provides a display device including the arraysubstrate according to any one of the above embodiments. The displaydevice may be any product or component having a display function, suchas a liquid crystal panel, an electronic paper, an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) panel, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, atelevision, a display, a notebook computer, a digital photo frame, or anavigator and the like.

In summary, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an arraysubstrate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. Thearray substrate includes the display area and the non-display area. Thenon-display area is provided with the peripheral circuit therein. Theperipheral circuit includes a test area 100, a bonding area 200, and acutting area 300. The test area 100 is provided with the test signalline therein for providing the test signal. The bonding area 200 isadjacent to the display area, and the bonding area 200 and the test area100 are electrically connected through signal leads. The cutting area300 is disposed between the test area 100 and the bonding area 200.After the cutting process is completed in the cutting area 300, acutting opening is formed on each of the signal leads, and the positionof the cutting opening of at least one signal lead is different from thepositions of the cutting openings of other signal leads in height alongthe extending direction of the signal leads. In the present disclosure,since the position of the cutting opening of the at least one signallead is different from the positions of the cutting openings of othersignal leads in height along the extending direction of the signalleads, so that the distance between the cutting opening of the signallead and the cutting opening of the adjacent signal lead is increased.That is, the distance between the metal debris at the cutting positionsof the two adjacent signal leads is increased, and the possibility thatthe two adjacent signal leads are connected together through metaldebris is reduced, thereby avoiding the problem of short circuit betweenthe two adjacent signal leads caused by laser cutting, and improving theyield of the display panel.

Although the respective embodiments have been described one by one, itshall be appreciated that the respective embodiments will not beisolated. Those skilled in the art can apparently appreciate uponreading the disclosure of this application that the respective technicalfeatures involved in the respective embodiments can be combinedarbitrarily between the respective embodiments as long as they have nocollision with each other. Of course, the respective technical featuresmentioned in the same embodiment can also be combined arbitrarily aslong as they have no collision with each other.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of thepresent disclosure, but are not intended to limit the protection scopeof the present disclosure. Any variation or replacement readily figuredout by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosedin the present disclosure shall all fall within the protection scope ofthe present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the presentdisclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An array substrate, comprising a display area anda non-display area, the non-display area being provided with aperipheral circuit therein, the peripheral circuit comprising: a testarea provided with a test signal line configured to provide a testsignal; a bonding area adjacent to the display area, the bonding areaand the test area being electrically connected through signal leads; anda cutting area disposed between the test area and the bonding area,wherein after a cutting process is completed in the cutting area, acutting opening is formed on each of the signal leads, and a position ofthe cutting opening of at least one signal lead is different frompositions of the cutting openings of other signal leads in height alongan extending direction of the signal leads; wherein in the cutting area,positions of cutting openings of two adjacent signal leads are differentin height along the extending direction of the signal leads.
 2. Thearray substrate according to claim 1, wherein the test area comprises anodd data wiring and an even data wiring, the signal leads comprise firstleads and second leads, the first leads and the second leads arealternately arranged, the odd data wiring and the bonding area areelectrically connected through the first leads, the even data wiring andthe bonding area are electrically connected through the second leads,positions of cutting openings of the first leads are the same in heightalong the extending direction of the signal leads, and positions ofcutting openings of the second leads are the same in height along theextending direction of the signal leads.
 3. The array substrateaccording to claim 2, wherein the positions of the cutting openings ofthe first leads are higher than the positions of the cutting openings ofthe second leads along the extending direction of the signal leads. 4.The array substrate according to claim 2, wherein the positions of thecutting openings of the first leads are lower than the positions of thecutting openings of the second leads along the extending direction ofthe signal leads.
 5. The array substrate of claim 2, wherein the firstleads and the second leads are disposed in different layers.
 6. Thearray substrate of claim 5, wherein the first leads and the odd datawiring are disposed in the same layer, and the second leads and the evendata wiring are disposed in the same layer.
 7. The array substrateaccording to claim 5, wherein cutting depths of the cutting openings ofthe first leads are different from cutting depths of the cuttingopenings of the second leads.
 8. A display device comprising the arraysubstrate of claim 1.